Measurement of peripheral tissue thickness by ultrasound during the perioperative period

We have studied changes in peripheral tissue thickness with a novel hand-he ld ultrasound device during the perioperative course of 60 healthy surgical patients in three different intraoperative body positions. The nit-by-mout h period led to a significant decrease in forehead tissue thickness. Standa rdized infusion therapy with Ringer's solution at a rate of 8 ml kg(-1) h(- 1) resulted in a gradual increase in tissue thickness, which was significan tly different from preoperative baseline values after 90 min. Packed cell v olume decreased significantly after the start of infusion and remained low over the rest of the observation time. Different body positions did not inf luence changes in tissue thickness. We conclude that changes in perioperati ve tissue thickness in healthy patients can be detected easily by ultrasoun d, independent of body position. This method may prove useful for the non-i nvasive assessment of fluid balance state.